Mascot to the Huskies of Michigan Technological University, Blizzard traveled south to see a space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral, now scheduled for Thursday, November 4. He has already toured the Kennedy Space Center, frolicked on the beach and visited Ron Jon’s Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach. Living in the snowy Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Blizzard has never gone surfing, so he was very excited.

What lured Blizzard to Florida? “Michigan Tech has a strong aerospace program and Aerospace Enterprise,” explains the furry fellow. “And since Michigan Tech is known for science and technology, I figured I should at least have a paw in one of the final space shuttle launches.”

Blizzard paid most of his own way to Florida, with help from a private supporter of Michigan Tech athletics.

On his way to the Cape, Blizzard stopped in Chicago, where he visited Grant Park. He saw the "no dogs allowed" signs, but he promised to clean up after himself.

On the way back to Houghton, Mich., where Blizzard is a familiar character and a favorite of Yoopers (people who live in the UP) large and small, the big, friendly Husky hopes to make appearances at Georgia Tech, the renowned golf courses at Augusta, Georgia, the Michigan Tech Research Institute in Ann Arbor, Mich., and the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge that connects the lower peninsula of Michigan with the UP.

Blizzard has been Michigan Tech’s mascot since he was named in a campus contest in 1997. His middle initial, T, stands for The. In other words, he is Blizzard The Husky.

As a sports teams’ mascot, naturally Blizzard attends all the Michigan Tech Division I hockey and Division II football, basketball, volleyball and soccer games, but he is a busy dog even when the rink and field are dark. He helped McGruff the Crime Dog teach about crime prevention during National Night Out in August; he went bowling with students and their parents at Family Weekend; he rode a small sled on skis during Homecoming; and he posed for a “wash your paws” poster, part of a campus campaign to prevent the spread of flu virus last winter.

As far as Blizzard can determine from the folks at NASA, he is the first mascot ever to watch a shuttle launch and tour the Space Center. He claims to be all fired up. At least we think that’s what that WOOF meant.

Michigan Technological University (www.mtu.edu) is a leading public research university developing new technologies and preparing students to create the future for a prosperous and sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers more than 130 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering; forest resources; computing; technology; business; economics; natural, physical and environmental sciences; arts; humanities; and social sciences.